iTV is the New Apple TV. Ships with iOS, Supports 720p Only. No 1080p

Apple TV is Apple’s attempt to revolutionize the way we watch TV, but quite frankly, they have failed to impress in this space thus far. Its been quite a while since Apple refreshed its Apple TV lineup. Earlier this week, there were rumors about Apple TV getting a refresh with iOS early next year. And now Engadget is reporting from one of their trusted source that a refresh is imminent, and that it is now going to be called as iTV.

The form factor of iTV will be small, something on the lines of iPhone 4 with almost same hardware specs.

A trusted Engadget source asserted that the gang in Cupertino would be releasing a $99 version of the set top box, similarly sized and packed with internals akin to that of the iPhone 4 (A4 CPU, 16GB of flash storage), and will introduce new iTunes streaming services the box could take advantage of.

It is also being said that iTV will be accompanied with a cloud based iTunes Store as its backend. The only downside will be the lack of 1080p playback support, which in my opinion will be a deal breaker for many. It is going to output in HD 720p only. Apple is expected to announce their plans for next Apple TV at their iPod music event in September this year. [via Engadget]